Killer, Rapist & Arsonist among 77 who have never recaptured

A killer, a rapist on a life sentence and an arsonist who may never be released from prison are among the 77 prisoners who have escaped in the last ten years without being recaptured, it has been revealed.

International drugs traffickers and firearms owners sentenced to life are also among the absconded prisoners who escaped between April 2004 and March 2014 and remain unlawfully at large, the Ministry of Justice data showed.

Justice Minister Simon Hughes, who released the list, said the number of escapes has reduced by 80% over the last ten years.

Mr Hughes said he was unable to release the names of the escaped prisoners without first performing checks to make sure that disclosure would not place anyone in danger and to ensure that any victim has already been informed of both the abscond and release of the name.

He said checks also needed to be carried out to make sure releasing names would not jeopardise police recapture operations.

Among the most serious offenders on the list are a rapist on a life sentence, an arsonist with an indeterminate sentence for public protection (ISPP), an offender jailed on an ISPP for possessing a firearm with intent, and an offender jailed for five years for manslaughter.

There were also four offenders who had sentences lasting at least a decade for import and export of drugs.

The list also includes a robber on an ISPP and a robber on a life sentence.

Mr Hughes released the data in response to a written parliamentary question from Tory Philip Davies (Shipley).

The list released is shown below:

:: Index offence and sentence length of absconders unlawfully at large from April 2004 to March 2014, as at 30 September 2014:

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